As if the loud vacuum cleaner sound that the Xbox 360 makes when in standby wasn't enough indication, now researchers have released their finding on just how much power you are wasting if you don't turn off your gaming machines when not using them. According to Choice's energy tests, the device that consumed the most power when in use was the PlayStation 3, closely followed by the Xbox 360 and Plasma TV. Even when idle (on, but no in use), these systems consumed the most power of the devices tested. Incredibly, the Playstation 3 consumed over 10 times as much power as the Nintendo Wii. They also found:

"Our tests also found that leaving a PlayStation 3 on while not in use would cost almost $250 a year in electricity bills (charged at 15c per kWh). This alone is around five times more than it would take to run a refrigerator for the same yearly period.

The Xbox 360 was not far behind the PlayStation 3 in energy usage costs per year, serving as an important reminder to turn off videogame systems after use.

The Plasma TV set was also a power hungry device, consuming over four times more power than a traditional CRT analogue TV set. The average desktop PC (tested independently of its required monitor) was third on the list.

Interestingly, its Apple-equivalent, the iMac (an all-in-one computer that includes a built-in display), consumed two thirds as much power as the Windows-based PC, which was tested independently from a required external display. The LCD computer monitor tested was found to be far more energy efficient than it?s CRT predecessor. The CRT used more than double the power of the LCD display.

Using just the results from our test of common household devices (see Power Usage) you can see that just leaving a desktop PC, LCD monitor, wireless router, plasma TV and DVD player switched on every day costs around $450 a year. Left in standby mode, these devices would cost around $15 for the same period, not to mention save on carbon emissions."

You can check out the power usage and energy cost chart that includes notebooks, DVD players and much more on this page.